Typically, emergency lighting fixtures are required by municipal, state or federal codes to illuminate workers exit routes such as doorways, hallways, aisles, stairs, ramps and passageways leading to an exit. Emergency lighting fixtures are also used in areas containing critical instruments equipment and processes to provide stand by and safety lighting.
Presently, many different types of emergency lighting fixtures exist for providing light to an area in the event of loss of power. For example, some emergency lighting fixtures utilize small boxes with a pair of externally mounted lamps. These types of emergency lighting fixtures are mounted on walls and often used in hallways and stairwells of buildings. Another type of emergency lighting fixture utilizes a centrally located control box with backup batteries and a plurality of remotely located lamps electrically coupled thereto. Other emergency lighting fixtures utilize a single lamp located within a housing which also includes backup batteries.
Depending upon the construction of the emergency lighting fixture, it may be limited to use in certain types of areas. More specifically, government regulations and codes dictate the type of emergency lighting which can be utilized in certain types of areas or environments. This is especially the case in areas or environments containing ignitable materials in which a spark generated by the lighting fixture could cause the materials to ignite or even explode. Accordingly, emergency lighting fixtures for use in hazardous locations are required to meet various governmental standards to prevent fires and/or explosions from occurring due to the lighting fixture.
Many emergency lighting fixtures are currently available on the market for use in hazardous areas or locations. Typically, they are either stand alone fixtures with backup batteries, a charger and a single lamp mounted within an explosion proof housing or a plurality of lamp fixtures mounted in individual explosion proof housings with remotely mounted backup batteries and charger. However, these prior art emergency lighting fixtures suffer from many deficiencies. For example, the stand alone fixtures with an internal light source only have a single non-directional lamp mounted within the housing. Accordingly, the light transmitted by such stand lone unit cannot be directed or aimed to a particular location with the area or location it is mounted.
Emergency lighting fixtures, which have a plurality of lamps, on the other hand, require separate explosion proof housings for each of the lamps. This can be expensive to manufacture.
Examples of some various emergency lighting fixtures known in the prior art are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,255,746 to Johnson et al; 4,802,065 to Minter et al; and 5,379, to Epstein. Examples of some lighting arrangements with directional lamps are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,479,498 to Lasseigne; 4,302,800 to Pelletier; and 5,010,454 to Hopper.
In view of the above, it will become apparent to those skilled in the art that there exists a need for an emergency lighting fixture with one or more aimable lamps mounted within a single housing as well as a need for an emergency lighting fixture with a plurality of lamps mounted within a single housing. Accordingly, this invention addresses these needs in the art along with other needs which will become apparent to those skilled in the art once given this disclosure.